Never haggle about principles
By Jessie Wang

Germans are famous for their strictness in the world. On the basis of my experience, it's really the truth.

I once had an opportunity to stay with two German friends for two weeks. Jorg and his fiancée Awa are two friends of mine from Dusseldorf Germany. They were very interested in importing silk clothes for the chain supermarket run by Awa's family. I was invited to accompany them to see some silk spinning factories in the east of China. Every day they asked me to try to arrange visits to more factories in which they inquired as much as they could. They even never accepted my suggestion to visit some famous spots. I had a great esteem for their diligence and hard work.

What happened next really got me involved in an awkward situation. I hired a taxi from the hotel to take us to Hangzhou and bargained with the taxi driver to the price of 400 Yuan, which was confirmed by Jorg and Awa. By the way, most of the charges including mine were charged to their account on this trip. After half an hour of driving the taxi driver told me that the charges didn't include the association fee of 200 Yuan, so we had to pay total 600 Yuan. I was a little annoyed but quickly calmed down because it was common for this to happen in China. I explained it to the two German friends, they strongly opposed the driver's proposal because we were in a hurry to attend a meeting that morning, I stated that we should pay the extra 200 Yuan. But Jorg said: "Jessie, it's not the question of money, we shouldn't haggle about principles." He insisted in paying 400 Yuan and didn't let me pay any extra coin to the driver. The driver was obstinate too. So Jorg asked him to drive back to the hotel. He argued strongly with the manager and paid nothing to the driver; at last we hired another taxi on the price of 600 Yuan!

This experience has changed me a lot, not only on my attitude towards principles but also my methods of working.

 

 

Phoebe的秘方
By Suky

本期请大家和Suky一起继续感受Friends(<六人行>)的地道口语与乐趣.

Phoebe决定把祖母做巧克力饼干的秘方送给Monica作为订婚礼物,却发现该秘方毁于火灾.她和Monica着手研究秘方的配料,最终发现那并非原创,而是雀巢饼干.而Rachel教Joey航船;在教学中,她变得像她父亲一样刻薄.

1. You mean the one that my grandmother made me swear on her deathbed that I would never let out of our family?
你说的是我祖母在临终之前让我发誓绝不外传的独家秘方?
Phoebe说了一句长句,还好她说话总是这么富有节奏与表情,不然真会让人听得云里雾里.recipe cannot be let out of family:家传之秘,而Phoebe的家传之秘cookie recipe后来被发现居然是雀巢饼干的配方,真是让人跌破眼镜.Dying people say the craziest things.(要死的人总是说疯话)与中文的"人之将死,其言也善"是大相径庭.

2. Cause it's gross.
因为很俗(太贵重了).
Phoebe去找秘方单子,却发现单子在大火中被烧毁了.于是她带来了一些根据那些单子制成的饼干.Chandler却不想接受,Cause it's gross这里可以译成:因为很俗(因为太贵重了).是双关语.这个句子很好用,别人问你对一个东西的评价如何,你不好直说,这句就可以派上用场了.

3. He asked for Chancy, I assumed he meant you.
他只是随便问问,我假定他指的是你.
Ross说他父亲请Chandler去打球.ask for Chancy是随便问问的意思,而Ross却直接把他和Chandler的名字联系在一起,给Chandler创造了和准岳父接触的机会.

4. Look at this clown Just because he's got a bigger boat he thinks he can take up the whole river. Get out of the way jackass.
看看这笨蛋! 就因为他得到了一条大一点的船他就以为他能占据整条河.别挡路,你这只蠢驴.
Clown与jackass都是英语中骂人的字眼.看,Rachel骂的是谁呢?Who names his boat Coast Guard anyway? (再说了,谁会给自己的船起名叫"海岸巡逻队"?)

5. Greens do not quit
Greens? I'm a Tribbiani And Tribbianis quit.
因为你还没学完! 菜鸟(green)不能退出!
格林(Green)? 我是崔比·昂尼!崔比·昂尼退出!
美语中很多词和人的名字是联系在一起的,比如刚才看到的Chancy和现在的Green.也正是这些词使美语显得丰富而且有意思.

 

 

Improve your cubicle life
By the Chef

During the past couple of weeks some readers have written emails to express their dislike towards their lives in cubicles. Some complained about noises from the neighbors and others about the little space that has been depressing their view as well as their spirits. Having worked in cubicles for years, here is some advice from the Chef and hopefully it can help to make your office a little bit more cube-friendly.

Dear All,
These complaints are common. Actually in a cubicle environment, professional etiquette should be lifted into a higher standard then in a traditional office due to the closeness between the co-workers. However, if you have to deal with it, here is something you might want to give a try to make it better. As the old Chinese saying goes: don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated. So in order to gain respect and be treated in the right manner you might want to start trying to give your cube mates a sense of control over their space. Be as polite as you can, knock on the walls before you speak with them.

moreover, be careful with the volume of your voice and what you say. Remember if you can hear him, he can hear you. You should keep your voice down when you don't want to be interrupted by other's talking. Sensitive or private matters should be discussed discreetly in an empty office or private area. In that way people around you can carry on to make phone calls, read or write important documents and concentrate on their work. With these points nicely followed you will gain respect and the right to politely remind others when they bother you with inappropriate cubicle manners.
They say life is never healthy without exercises and neither is cubicle life. Get up and walk every half an hour or so, stretch your arms and legs once in a while, and most importantly make sure you have an ergonomic chair with arm rests you can raise or lower to get the right fit. And if you are in the mood to get fancy, do as one of my friends did. He kept lots of framed photographs on his desk of friends and favorite places he had visited and also kept plants in his cubicle which freshened up the desk full of papers. He even bought a table light and a piece of rug to cozy things up a bit. The way I see it, if you have to live in a cube, you might as well make it comfortable.

Vocabulary
Etiquette 礼节
Discreetly 小心谨慎的
Concentrate 专注
Inappropriate 不合适的
Stretch 伸展
Cozy 温馨,安逸

 

 

CrossWord Puzzle



Across:
1. A seed or pod of a common plant.
3. Where people normally have dinner.
6. Once more.
8. To make brown by exposure to the sun.

Down:
2. Repetition of a sound by reflection of sound waves from a surface.
3. A ruler who governs without restrictions.
4. To cause to remember.
5. A dense growth of trees.
6. A small insect.
7. Yearly.
9. A small restaurant.